JP2001334955A - Reinforcing structure of vehilce door - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load transmitted from a side member or fender apron to a roof side member through a pillar member. SOLUTION: This reinforcing structure is for a front door 10 applied to a vehicle having a front pillar 18 connected to the roof side member 22 at the upper end and a center pillar 20 arranged in the rear part of the vehicle with a space to the front pillar and connected to the roof side member at the upper end, and the front door 10 comprises a front frame part 34F cooperated with the front pillar and a rear frame part 34R cooperating with the center pillar. The structure comprises a reinforcing member 48 fop connecting the front frame part to the rear frame part and extending substantially in the vehicular longitudinal direction. According to this, when a front side member 28 or fender apron 28A receives a backward load, the load transmitted to the center pillar through the front door is larger than the load transmitted to the roof side member through the front pillar.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a body of a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a structure for reinforcing a door of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of the body structures of vehicles such as automobiles, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-126 filed by the present applicant.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 678, a body structure in which a rear end of a front side member upper is bent along a dash panel and the bent portion is connected to a front pillar has been conventionally known. According to such a body structure,
In the event of a vehicle collision, the load acting on the front side member at the rear of the vehicle can be efficiently transmitted to the front pillar.

In a vehicle such as an automobile, a door is conventionally formed of an outer door panel and an inner door panel integrally connected to each other by welding, and the door is formed of an outer door panel and an inner door near a lower edge of a window opening. The reinforcement panels are reinforced by fixing the reinforcement panels to the door panels.

Further, in a vehicle such as an automobile, an impact beam is provided which connects a front frame portion and a rear frame portion of a door and extends substantially in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Door structures configured to absorb the side load in the above by an impact beam are also well known.

[0005]

However, in the conventional body structure and door structure as described above, in the event of a collision of the vehicle, the front pillar applies a load rearward of the vehicle from the front side member or the front fender apron. When received, the reinforcement panel and impact beam cannot carry the load effectively, so the load transmitted to the center pillar via the reinforcement panel and impact beam is more effective to the roof side members via the front pillar than the load transmitted to the center pillar. The transmitted load is higher,
Therefore, there is a problem that the front pillar and the roof side member are easily deformed greatly when the impact of the collision is large.

This problem also exists in a body structure in which a front pillar is provided near a front side member and a front fender apron, and a rear end of the front side member is connected to a rocker. Further, this problem is remarkable when the structural members of the body and the door are formed of a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy, and a similar problem exists on the rear side of the vehicle.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional body structure and the conventional door reinforcing structure using a reinforcement panel and an impact beam, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle. By reducing the load transmitted from the side member or the fender apron to the roof side member via the pillar member at the time of a collision, etc., the load acting on the pillar member and the roof side member and the amount of deformation are effectively reduced. That is.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the above-mentioned main object is achieved by the configuration according to claim 1, that is, it is arranged close to a side member and a fender apron in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle and has a roof at an upper end. The present invention is applied to a vehicle having a first pillar connected to a side member, and a second pillar spaced apart from the first pillar in a vehicle front-rear direction and connected at an upper end to a roof side member. A first frame portion cooperating with a pillar and a door reinforcement structure having a second frame portion cooperating with the second pillar, the first frame portion and the second frame portion Having a reinforcing member that is connected and extends substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction, via the first pillar when the first pillar receives a load in a direction from the side member toward the second pillar. Than the load transmitted to the roof side member Serial achieved by reinforcing the structure of the door, characterized in that towards the through the door load transmitted to the second pillar is configured higher.

According to the configuration of the first aspect, a reinforcing member that connects the first frame portion and the second frame portion and extends substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction is provided, and the first pillar is provided on the side. When a load in the direction toward the second pillar is received from the member, the load transmitted to the second pillar via the door is higher than the load transmitted to the roof side member via the first pillar, As compared with the conventional structure in which the load transmitted to the roof side member via the first pillar is higher than the load transmitted to the second pillar via the door, the roof pillar is passed through the first pillar to the roof side member. It is possible to reliably reduce the transmitted load, thereby reducing the amount of deformation of the first pillar and the roof side member at the time of a vehicle collision or the like as compared with the conventional structure. Will be possible.

According to the present invention, in order to effectively achieve the above-mentioned main object, the reinforcing member is formed of a hollow extruded material. 2).

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the reinforcing member is a hollow extruded material, the weight can be reduced as compared with the case where the reinforcing member is formed of a solid member. Further, compared to the case where a hollow steel pipe or the like is used as the reinforcing member, the cost can be reduced and the degree of freedom of the sectional shape can be increased.

[0012]

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the door is a front door, the side member is a front side member, and the fender apron is a front fender. An apron, the first pillar is a front pillar, the second pillar is a center pillar, the first frame is a front frame of the front door, and the second frame is a rear of the front door. It is configured to be the side frame portion (preferred embodiment 1).

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the door is a rear door, the side member is a rear side member, the fender apron is a rear fender apron, Is a rear pillar, the second pillar is a center pillar, the first frame is a rear frame of the rear door, and the second frame is a front frame of the rear door. (Preferred embodiment 2).

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the reinforcing member is configured to be located at a position close to the lower edge of the window opening of the door (preferably). Aspect 3).

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the second aspect, the reinforcing member is formed integrally with the rigid holding portion for securing rigidity of the door, and the vehicle compartment is formed. It is configured to have an energy absorbing portion that absorbs a load from inside by deformation.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the configuration of the above-mentioned preferred embodiment 4, the rigid holding portion has a closed cross-sectional shape having a flat portion on the vehicle cabin side, and the energy absorbing portion has the above-mentioned energy absorbing portion. It is configured so as to have a closed section of a semicylindrical shape that protrudes toward the passenger compartment in cooperation with the flat part (preferred embodiment 5).

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the configuration of the preferred embodiment 5, the rigid holding portion extends substantially over the entire length of the reinforcing member, and the energy absorbing portion extends from the reinforcing member. It is configured to be provided only in part (preferred mode 6).

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the configuration of the second aspect, the door and the reinforcing member are formed of a light alloy (preferred embodiment 7).

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a front door of an automobile to which one embodiment of a door reinforcing structure according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a reinforcing member (inner reinforcement) of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing transmission of a load at the time of a vehicle collision. In FIG. 5, only the frame portion of the door is shown for easy understanding.

In these figures, 10 indicates a front door, and 12 indicates a front door glass. Reference numeral 14 denotes a front wheel, and reference numeral 16 denotes a front fender panel. As is well known, the front door 10 is pivotally supported at its front edge by a front pillar 18 so that the front pillar 1
8, a center pillar 20 spaced rearward of the vehicle from the front pillar, a roof side member 22 connected to upper ends of the front pillar 18 and the center pillar 20 and extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, a front pillar 18 and the center pillar 20 A front door opening 26 defined by a locker 24 connected to the lower end of the vehicle and extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is opened and closed.

The front pillar 18 includes a front pillar lower 18A extending substantially vertically and a front pillar upper 18B formed integrally with the front pillar lower at the lower end and connected to the roof side member 22 at the upper end. Is made up of The front pillar lower 18A is disposed in the vicinity of the front side member 28 and the rear of the front fender apron 28A which is integral therewith,
The front pillar upper 18B extends obliquely rearward of the vehicle as viewed from the lower end toward the upper end. In the illustrated embodiment, at least some of the members such as the front pillar 18 are formed of a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy.

The front door 10 is formed of an outer door panel 30 and an inner door panel 32 which are joined to each other by welding such as spot welding. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer door panel 30 and the inner door panel 32 are made of an aluminum alloy. It is formed of such a light alloy. Outer door panel 30 and inner door panel 32
Are joined along a front pillar 18 and a front frame 34F extending along and cooperating therewith, and a rear frame 34 extending along and cooperating with the center pillar 20.
R, an upper frame portion 34U extending along and cooperating with the roof side member 22, and a lower frame portion 34D extending along and cooperating with the rocker 24.

The outer door panel 30 and the inner door panel 32 cooperate with each other to define a window opening 36, and an imaginary line 36A in FIG. A rim member 38 is fixed to an edge defining the window opening 36 of the outer door panel 30,
A rubber sealing member 40 that seals a gap between the rim member 38 and the front door glass 12 is fixed. Similarly, the window opening 36 of the inner door panel 32
A rim member 42 is fixed to an edge defining the space, and a rubber sealing member 44 that seals a gap between the rim member 42 and the front door glass 12 is fixed.

The outer door panel 30 is a front door 10
The outer reinforcement 46 is a reinforcing member that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction near the lower edge 36A of the window opening 36. The outer reinforcement 46 is a plate-shaped member having a U-shaped cross section opened in the outboard direction and formed of a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy, and is fixed to the inner surface of the outer door panel 30 by welding such as spot welding. I have.

The inner door panel 32 also has the window opening 3.
6 is an inner reinforcement 4 which is a reinforcing member that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction in parallel with and near the lower edge 36A.
8 reinforced. The inner reinforcement 48 is formed of a hollow extruded material made of a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy, and has M at the front end and the rear end, respectively.
It is connected and fixed to the inner door panel 32 of the front frame portion 34F and the rear frame portion 34R by welding such as IG welding.

Although not shown in the drawing, the front end of the inner reinforcement 48 is slightly separated from the front pillar lower 18A behind the vehicle in a state of being covered with the inner door panel 32 or a cover member, and the inner reinforcement 48 is provided. The rear end 48 is slightly spaced forward of the vehicle from the center pillar 20 while being covered with the inner door panel 32 or a cover member. At the vertical position between the inner reinforcement 48 and the lower frame portion 34D, between the front frame portion 34F and the rear frame portion 34R, as in the case of a conventional vehicle door, an impact beam is provided. And the impact beam may be of any configuration known in the art.

The inner reinforcement 48 has a substantially trapezoidal closed cross-sectional shape and has a rigid holding portion 50 for securing the rigidity of the front door, and a hook-like shape integrally formed with the rigid holding portion 50 and protruding toward the passenger compartment. And an energy absorbing portion 52 having a closed cross-sectional shape. A portion common to both the rigid holding portion 50 and the energy absorbing portion 52 defines a plane portion 50A extending substantially in the vertical direction. The thickness of the energy absorbing portion 52 is set to be smaller than the thickness of the rigidity retaining portion 50, whereby the energy absorbing portion 52 absorbs its energy by being elastically and plastically deformed when receiving a stronger load than the cabin side. It is possible to do.

In particular, in the illustrated embodiment, a rib 54 is integrally provided on the upper surface of the rigid holding portion 50, and the rim member 42 is fixed to the rib 54. The vertical length of the energy absorbing portion 52 is larger than the vertical length of the rigidity holding portion 50, whereby a part of the inner door panel 32 is fixed to the lower edge of the flat portion 50A by welding such as MIG welding. ing.

Further, the energy absorbing portion 52 may extend over the entire length of the inner reinforcement 48,
In the embodiment shown, the energy absorbing portion 52 in about half the area of the extruded material for forming the inner reinforcement 48 is removed by, for example, laser fusing, so that the energy absorbing portion 52 is removed. Is provided only in the vicinity of a half area on the rear side of the vehicle, in other words, in the vicinity of the area where the occupant 56 seated in the front seat is located.

Next, as in the case of a collision of a vehicle having the front door constructed as described above, the front side member 28
A large load acts on the rear of the vehicle, thereby causing the front pillar lower 18A to load the rear of the vehicle from the front side member 28 and the front fender apron 28A as shown by arrows Fa and Fb in FIG. A description will be given of a case in which the information is received.

Part of the load is transmitted to the rocker 24 as indicated by an arrow Fc, and another part of the load is transmitted to the front pillar upper 1 as indicated by an arrow Fd.
8B, the remaining load is transmitted to the center pillar 20 via the front door 10 as indicated by an arrow Fe. In particular, most of the load transmitted to the center pillar 20 via the front door 10 is transmitted through the front frame portion 34F, the inner reinforcement 48, and the rear frame portion 34R.

In this case, the load (Fe) transmitted to the center pillar 20 via the front door 10 is higher than the load (Fd) transmitted to the roof side member 22 via the front pillar upper 18B, and the front pillar lower 1
The load (Fc) transmitted from 8A to the rocker 24 is higher than the load (Fe) transmitted to the center pillar 20 via the front door 10.

Therefore, according to the illustrated embodiment, the load transmitted to the roof side member via the front pillar upper is higher than the load transmitted to the center pillar via the front door as compared with the conventional structure. Therefore, it is possible to reliably reduce the load acting on the front pillar upper and the roof side member, thereby reducing the amount of deformation of these members at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, and effectively suppressing the reduction of the cabin space. it can.

In particular, according to the illustrated embodiment, the inner reinforcement 48 as the reinforcing member is formed of an extruded material made of a light alloy such as aluminum, so that the reinforcing member is formed of a solid member. The weight can be reduced as compared with the case, and the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a hollow steel pipe or the like is used as the reinforcing member.

Also, according to the illustrated embodiment, the inner reinforcement 48 extends in the vehicle front-rear direction close to and parallel to the lower edge of the window opening 36 of the front door 10. Is located at a position spaced below the lower edge of the window opening 36 as compared with the front pillar upper 18B.
(F) transmitted to the roof side member 22 through the
d) can be reliably reduced.

Further, according to the illustrated embodiment, the inner reinforcement 48 has the rigidity retaining portion 50 for securing the rigidity of the front door 10 and the energy absorbing portion 52 formed integrally therewith. As in the case of a collision, the impact energy when a high lateral load is applied between the front door 10 and the occupant 56 is transferred to the energy absorbing portion 52.
As a result, the buffering effect of the front door 10 on the occupant in a side collision or the like can be improved as compared with the case where the energy absorbing portion 52 is not provided.

Also, according to the illustrated embodiment, the inner reinforcement 48 is formed of an extruded material made of a light alloy such as aluminum, so that, for example, the inner reinforcement is formed of a panel member like the outer reinforcement 46. The rigidity in the lateral direction of the door can be improved as compared with the case where the door is formed, whereby the deformation of the vehicle body at the time of a side collision of the vehicle can be reduced.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various other embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that is possible.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rigidity retaining portion 50 of the inner reinforcement 48 has a substantially trapezoidal closed cross-sectional shape, but may have a closed cross-sectional shape other than the trapezoidal shape. Although the energy absorbing portion 52 is provided only in the rear half of the inner reinforcement 48, the energy absorbing portion 52 may extend over substantially the entire length of the inner reinforcement 48 or may be omitted.

In the above-described embodiment, the outer reinforcement 46 is formed by a panel member, but the outer reinforcement 46 is also hollow extrusion formed of a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy similarly to the inner reinforcement 48. It may be formed of a material, and in that case, a portion corresponding to the energy absorbing portion 52 may be omitted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the reinforcing structure of the present invention is applied to the front door. However, the reinforcing structure of the present invention may be applied to the rear door. Member, the first pillar is a rear pillar, the second pillar is a center pillar, the first frame of the door is a rear frame of the rear door, and the second frame of the door is a rear door. Is configured to be the front frame portion. Further, in the above embodiment, the vehicle is a four-door vehicle, but the reinforcing structure of the present invention may be applied to a two-door vehicle.

[0043]

As is clear from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the first pillar receives a load from the side member toward the second pillar, the first pillar receives the first pillar. Since the load transmitted to the second pillar via the door is higher than the load transmitted to the roof side member via the pillar of the first pillar, the load of the first pillar is greater than the load transmitted to the second pillar via the door. And the load transmitted to the roof side member via the first pillar can be reduced more reliably than in the case of the conventional structure in which the load transmitted to the roof side member via the first pillar is high. In addition, the amount of deformation of the roof side member can be reduced as compared with the case of the conventional structure, and the safety of the occupant at the time of collision or the like can be further improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the reinforcing member is a hollow extruded material, the weight can be reduced as compared with the case where the reinforcing member is formed of a solid member.
Further, as compared with the case where a hollow steel pipe or the like is used as the reinforcing member, the cost can be reduced and the degree of freedom of the cross-sectional shape can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a front door of an automobile to which one embodiment of a door reinforcing structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a reinforcing member (inner reinforcement) of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing transmission of a load at the time of a vehicle collision.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Front door 18 ... Front pillar 20 ... Center pillar 22 ... Roof side member 24 ... Rocker 28 ... Front side member 28A ... Front fender apron 30 ... Outer door panel 32 ... Inner door panel 34F ... Front frame part 34R ... Rear frame part 46 … Outer reinforcement 48… Inner reinforcement 50… Rigidity retaining part 52… Energy absorbing part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first pillar disposed close to a side member and a fender apron in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle and connected to a roof side member at an upper end and spaced apart from the first pillar in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A first frame portion cooperating with the first pillar and a second frame cooperating with the second pillar, the first frame portion being applied to a vehicle having a second pillar connected to the roof side member at the upper end. And a reinforcing member that connects the first frame portion and the second frame portion and extends substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction. When a load in the direction toward the second pillar is received from the side member, the load transmitted to the roof side member via the first pillar is transmitted to the second pillar via the door more than the load transmitted to the roof side member. The load is configured to be higher Reinforcing structure of the door, characterized in that. 2. The door reinforcing structure according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcing member is formed of a hollow extruded material.